Lady's Well, St Ninian's Well or Paulinus' Well is situated just north of the village of Holystone. It is a very atmospheric site and one of the best known features of Holystone.
The powerful spring, said to discharge 560 gallons a minute, now issues forth into a rectangular stone-lined basin, which is rounded at the north-east end and measures 13m by 7.8m. The tank is orientated south-west to north-east and is surrounded by fir trees within a stone-walled enclosure. The current layout is largely the result of extensive restoration of the pool in the late C18th when the tank was repaired, the walls rebuilt and a statue intended to represent St Paulinus was erected on a pedestal in the centre of the basin. The statue was subsequently moved to the south-west end in 1861-62 and replaced by a simple wheel cross.
Local tradition says an altar-shaped stone near the well is the 'holy stone', which gives the village its name.
"At the east end lyeth a stone 3 foot in length and 2 in breadth called the holy stone, said to be the same whereon the forementioned Bishop [Paulinus] kneeled at his baptising of the heathen English; and was formerly held in great veneration by the gentry of the Roman Catholick religion who ofttimes come here on pilgrimage." (from account of John Warburton, 1715).
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